1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improvement of a flat knitting machine having a transferring mechanism.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a usual flat knitting machine, a pair of needle beds which contain movable knitting needles are arranged to form an inverted V-shaped form in a side view.
To solve this problem, Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 41-7907 discloses a flat knitting machine, wherein a pair of needles beds, containing movable knitting needles, are arranged to form an inverted V-shaped form in a side view. A transferring jack bed, containing movable jacks in jack grooves, is provided above each needle bed. A stitch to be transferred is transferred from the knitting needle to the transferring jack, and the stitch engaged with the transferring jack is transferred to another knitting needle after the transferring jack engaged with the stitch is moved in a transverse direction.
Further, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1-168943 discloses a flat knitting machine, wherein a transferring jack bed is supported above a needle bed by supporting members. Transferring jacks, at the front ends of which stitch engaging portions are formed, are movably arranged in the transferring bed. The transferring jacks are moved forward and backward by a transferring cam accompanied with a carriage. The transferring jack bed is moved in a transverse direction by a driving means provided at one side of the transferring jack bed. A stitch engaged with the stitch engaging portion is moved in a transverse direction and the stitch is transferred to another knitting needle.
Furthermore, Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 1-57173, of the present applicant, discloses a flat knitting machine, wherein what is called "four beds" is formed by arranging a pair of front and rear needle beds upward and downward. A stitch is transferred by moving knitting needles in each of the needle beds and the stitch can be transferred in a transverse direction by moving each of the needle beds in such transverse direction.
Furthermore, Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 56-21854, of the present applicant, and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 63-256752 discloses a flat knitting machine, wherein a transferring bed, containing movable jacks in jack grooves, is provided above a needle bed. A stitch to be transferred is transferred from the knitting needle to the transferring jack. The stitch engaged with the transferring jack is transferred to another knitting needle after the transferring jack engaged with the stitch is moved in a transverse direction.
In the flat knitting machines having a transferring mechanism disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 63-256752, Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 56-21854, and the transferring jack or knitting needle which receives the stitch to be transferred is moved transversely. Because the transferring jack or the knitting needle is kept in a protruding position, when moved transversely, such protruding jack or needle interferes with a projected portion like a sinker formed at the top portion of the needle bed. Therefore, to avoid such interference, the otherwise interfering tip portion of the transferring jack or knitting needle, which receives the stitch, must be raised by a raising device. When the raising device is proved, however, a problem arises in that the construction of the transferring mechanism becomes complicated and the side of the transferring mechanism becomes large.
Further, in the flat knitting machine having a transferring mechanism disclosed in Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 1-57173, because the font and rear needles beds arranged upward have a knitting function, forming a loop, hooking a loop, disengaging a loop, a transfer, that is, forming a tuck, and the like, are the same size as the needle beds which are arranged downward. A problem arises in that the construction of the flat knitting machine becomes complicated as well as the size of the flat knitting machine becomes large as comparing to other flat knitting machines disclosed in other Patent Publications.
Furthermore, in the flat knitting machine having a transferring mechanism disclosed in Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 41-7907, only related actions between the knitting needles and the transferring jack are disclosed. Accordingly, when the knitting needles and the transferring jack are moved forward or backward by a usual carriage or a transferring cam accompanied by the carriage, because the knitting needle and the transferring jack are always moved forward or backward by the carriage or the transferring cam, the jack butts of the transferring jack, which are moved or are being moved by the carriage or the transferring cam, become obstacles when the carriage or the transferring cam is moved in an adverse direction at any position on the needle bed. Therefore, in this flat knitting machine, because the carriage, or the transferring cam, cannot be moved in an adverse direction at any position on the needle bed, the carriage should be moved reciprocally over the entire width of the needle bed. As a result, a problem arises in that the number of the knitting courses per unit time reduces and thus productivity becomes considerably low. Especially, this problem emerges obviously when cloth with narrow width is knitted by a wide flat knitting machine by which cloth having large wale number can be knitted.